Senior Forward Deployed Engineer

About the role

Databricks is hiring a Senior Forward Deployed Engineer in Bengaluru to design and deliver production data and AI systems for customers on the Databricks platform.

<p>Databricks is a data and AI company whose platform is used by more than 20,000 organisations to build data and AI applications, analytics and agents. Its Forward Deployed Engineers deliver customer projects on that platform as a billable, hands-on function.</p><p>In this senior role you will own architecture and design decisions and build complete systems that span data engineering, AI and application development. You will work with engagement managers, project managers and customer teams, embed with stakeholders from engineers to executives, and contribute accelerators and feedback that influence the Databricks product. The posting mentions customer travel of around 20%.</p><p>This listing was verified on the employer's own careers page on 6 October 2026. Please read the full posting and apply directly on the employer's site; Cloud Soft Solutions does not handle applications for this role.</p>

Responsibilities

<ul><li>Lead customer projects that deliver production systems, including reference architectures, custom applications, data ingestion and ML/AI model integration</li><li>Guide strategic customers through large data and AI programmes from design to deployment</li><li>Make architecture and design decisions that are secure, scalable and in line with Databricks best practice</li><li>Scope technical delivery with engagement managers using customer input, and coordinate with project managers and architects</li><li>Pass product and implementation feedback to Engineering and Support to resolve issues quickly</li><li>Embed with customer teams to understand their challenges and deliver measurable results</li><li>Build accelerators, frameworks and best practices that can be reused across accounts</li></ul>

Requirements & qualifications

<ul><li>6+ years in data engineering, AI, data platforms or analytics</li><li>Experience designing and shipping complete production systems that join data pipelines and ML/AI models with front-end interfaces</li><li>Practical familiarity with MLOps, ML/AI models and AI APIs, and coding in Python, Scala or JavaScript/TypeScript</li><li>Working knowledge of at least two of AWS, Azure and GCP, with deep expertise in one</li><li>Deep Apache Spark experience, including knowledge of runtime internals, plus familiarity with CI/CD</li><li>Technical project delivery experience managing scope, timelines and outcomes with enterprise clients</li><li>Databricks certification and willingness to travel to customers about 20% of the time</li></ul>

Why this role in 2026

<p>This role covers the full stack of modern data and AI delivery, from Spark pipelines to model integration and user-facing applications, for large enterprise customers. Because the FDE team also contributes reusable assets and product feedback, the work extends beyond individual projects.</p>

Application tips

<ul><li>Lead with end-to-end systems you designed that combined data pipelines, ML/AI models and an application layer</li><li>Give specific evidence of Spark depth, such as performance tuning or work involving runtime internals</li><li>List your cloud experience clearly, showing at least two platforms and where you are strongest</li><li>Mention any Databricks certification you hold, since the posting lists it</li><li>Show project delivery skills: how you managed scope, timelines and stakeholder disagreements</li></ul>

Interview preparation

<p>Expect architecture discussions on lakehouse-style data platforms, Spark performance and how to integrate ML or GenAI models into production applications. Prepare examples of scoping customer work and handling conflicting stakeholders, and be ready to whiteboard a design. Useful reading: our <a href="/interview-questions/rag-interview-questions-2026/">RAG interview questions</a> and the <a href="/blog/fde-engineer-skills/">FDE engineer skills guide</a>.</p>

Career growth

<p>Senior FDEs who own architecture across multiple enterprise engagements build the experience needed for staff-level engineering, solution architecture or delivery leadership. The posting also notes that FDE work feeds into the Databricks product roadmap, giving exposure to product decisions.</p>